In Australia, the term liberalism refers to centre-right economic liberalism. Party ideology has therefore been referred to as liberalism, distinct from its meaning in some countries, but also as conservatism, which features strongly in party ideology. There have however long been party members who practice economic or classical liberalism without features of social conservatism, often referred to as small-l liberals Theories in support of economic liberalism were developed in the Enlightenment in opposition to mercantilism and feudalism, and is believed to be first fully formulated by Adam Smith, who advocated minimal interference of government in a market economy, though it does not necessarily oppose the states provision of basic public goods with what constitutes public goods originally being seen as very limited in scope Smith claimed that if everyone is left to their own economic devices instead of being controlled by the state, then the result would be a harmonious and more equal society of ever-increasing prosperity. Private property and individual contracts form the basis of economic liberalism. The early theory was based on the assumption that the economic actions of individuals are largely based on self-interest (invisible hand), and that allowing them to act without any restrictions will produce the best results for everyone (spontaneous order), provided that at least minimum standards of public information and justice exist, e.g., no one should be allowed to coerce, steal, or commit fraud, and there is freedom of speech and press. Core beliefs of classical liberals included new ideas—which departed from both the older conservative idea of society as a family and from later sociological concept of society as complex set of social networks—that individuals were egoistic, coldly calculating, essentially inert and atomistic and that society was no more than the sum of its individual members. These beliefs were complemented by a belief that labour, i.e. individuals without capital, can only be motivated by fear of hunger and by a reward, while men of higher rank can be motivated by ambition, as well. (sounce wikipedia)
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 00:31:01 +0000
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